Adamo Marinelli
Decmeber 8, 2021
Nearly five months after the Azzurri won the 2020 UEFA EUROs, their second ever European Championship, the Azzurri are at risk of not qualifying for the 2022 Qatar World Cup after failing to win group C over Switzerland.
Italy has now been drawn into a group with North Macedonia, Turkey, and Portugal. In order to qualify for the World Cup, Italy will have to beat North Macedonia in their mini group’s semi-final and then they’ll have to beat the winner of Turkey vs Portugal in the mini group final.
Italy had gone unbeaten in 34 consecutive games, including going a perfect 7-0-0 at the EUROs, dominating their opponents every match, and 3-0-0 in the first set of World Cup qualifiers.
Italy began to struggle after its EURO glory. They drew 1-1 with Bulgaria, 0-0 with Switzerland before beating Lithuania 5-0 to improve to 4-2-0 in World Cup qualifiers.
They extended their unbeaten run to 37 games, a world record for the longest international unbeaten streak.
In the UEFA Nations League Semi-final against Spain, Italy’s world record streak came to an end in a 2-1 loss to Spain. Spain is a good team and with their “tiki-taka” style of play, they are hard enough to play with 11 men, let alone 10 which Italy did.
Going into the final two World Cup qualifier games, Italy and Switzerland were both tied at the top of the group with 14 points. Italy had a two-goal advantage over Switzerland. However, Italy drew 1-1 with Switzerland and then drew 0-0 against Northern Ireland while the Swiss thumped Bulgaria 4-0 to win group C.
Switzerland finished 5-3-0 for 18 points and qualified directly for the World Cup; Italy finished 4-4-0 for 16 points and qualified for the playoffs.
Some fans will point out Jorginho’s two missed penalty shots against Switzerland that would have given Italy two more wins to finish the group 6-2-0 for 18 points, and that didn’t help Italy’s chances - it wasn’t the only reason why Italy failed to win their group.
Italy was hampered by injuries in the second and third set of World Cup qualifier matches, such as injuries to Giorgio Chiellini, Ciro Immobile, Nicolo Barella, Marco Verratti, Andrea Belotti, Lorenzo Pellegrini, and Leonardo Spinazzola - who is still out after his injury at the EUROs. Italy also simply couldn’t capitalize on the chances they created.
After their European triumph, their defense started matches slower, gave up more chances to opponents at the beginning of matches, conceded goals they don’t normally give up, and lacked that dominant presence in the middle after failing to control possession time.
This team will have to invest in a true striker besides Ciro Immobile to create more chances and capitalize on the ones they get.
Immobile was criticized for missing a handful of quality chances in the second leg of World Cup qualifier matches, but without him in the third leg, they struggled to generate chances against their opponents which cost them the group.
They will also need young, but talented reinforcements on defense, particularly at the center back position to replace Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci - one of the best center-back duos in recent memory.
Chiellini, 37, will be 38 in November 2022 and if Italy makes the World Cup, it will likely be Chiellini’s last stint with the international squad. Bonucci, 34, will be 35 in November 2022. He will likely be able to suit up for the World Cup if Italy qualifies and he also may be able to suit up for EURO 2024 before retirement.
Italy has some young and talented youth at the forward position, particularly at striker. In addition to their already young core consisting of Frederico Chiesa, Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne, Nicolo Barella, Jorginho, and Marco Verratti, they have several subs and reserves who have the potential to excel on the squad or have performed in their limited appearances. For example, guys Moise Kean, Giacomo Raspadori, Manuel Locatelli, Sandro Tonali, Nicolo Zaniolo, Matteo Pessina, and Gianluca Scamacca among others can all have significant roles in the midfield or at forward in the near future.
On defense, both their center-backs will retire in a few years and they will need to refresh. Leonardo Spinazzola will be back from his injury around the beginning of January 2022 according to this article and will regain his superstar form at left-back for the World Cup playoffs. Giovanni Di Lorenzo is a dominant right-back and should be good to go on March 24. For the near future, Chiellini and Bonucci should be able to continue their dominant, lockdown performance that they started at the EUROs, barring any injuries.
However, Emerson Palmieri, who played very well in Spinazzola’s absence is one of many good defenders that fits Mancini’s style of play to stop opposing attacks and move the ball upfield in transition. He is a left-back but may be able to transition to center-back. In addition, Alessandro Bastoni, Francesco Acerbi, Gianluca Mancini, and Davide Calabria are all reliable players who can fill in the role on defense. Perhaps in the long-term future, someone from the U-18 or U-21 team can come in and compete with those subs for a roster spot on the international team.
Italy is also set at the goalkeeper position. Gianluigi Donnarumma, who trained under Gianluigi Buffon - one of the best goalkeepers of all time - won the Yashin Trophy, which is awarded to the World’s best goalkeeper. He was excellent at the EUROs, which was his first major tournament.
Looking forward to their playoff games in March 2022, games against North Macedonia and either Turkey or Portugal are both winnable games. Italy is a talented team and well-coached under Roberto Mancini they just have to focus on their game plan.
They will have to be stout defensively, not concede early, and use their speed to generate offensive chances in transition.
I believe Italy will beat North Macedonia 2-0 and then win a 3-2 match in extra time against Ronaldo’s Portugal to earn a spot in the World Cup. As we saw at the EUROs, when this team is fully healthy, they are dangerous. Forza Azzurri.
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